Bill Clinton, former US president, has been duly trotted out to campaign for Kamala Harris as the US presidential election nears. Clinton directly referenced young Arab American voters, in a speech that should spark despair and outrage.
Journalist Prem Thakker shared footage of Clinton’s remarks:
Bill Clinton in Michigan:
"I understand why young Palestinian and Arab Americans in Michigan think too many people have died — I get that, but…""Hamas makes sure that they're shielded by civilians, they'll force you to kill civilians, if you want to defend yourself." pic.twitter.com/cYzlsmWTGo
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) October 31, 2024
In a typically rambling speech, Bill Clinton spun the now-familiar liberal line about Hamas hiding behind civilians.
It was remarkable to hear Clinton casually offer a rejoinder to the notion that many Arab Americans think too many people have died.
Let’s be clearer than Clinton – he’s alluding to the widespread belief among Arab Americans that too many Palestinians have been killed.
Respected scientific journal, The Lancet, estimated earlier this year that the reported death tolls are conservative, and they actually calculated that just the Gaza death toll could exceed 186,000 deaths. In a typically American display of aggressive callousness, Clinton goes on to imply that the killings are actually justified.
Callous Clinton
He said:
I think we’re going to have to essentially start again on the peace process and I understand why young Palestinian and Arab Americans in Michigan think too many people have died – I get that, but if you live in one of those kibbutzes in Israel right next to Gaza where the people there were the most pro-friendship with Palestine, most pro-two state solution of any of the Israeli communities, were the ones right next to Gaza. And Hamas butchered them.
The most pro-friendship people? Even mainstream media have occasionally reported on the violent ideologies of settlers in Israel. The Guardian described the ruined aftermath of an area of Palestine after Israeli bombs reigned down, reporting:
For most onlookers, the scene is apocalyptic – but for rightwing Israelis who want to resettle the strip, it’s a promising new horizon. Once dismissed as the pipe dream of fringe extremists, the idea is gaining momentum thanks to Israel’s military success in Gaza, and political support from Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition.
What once may have been fringe extremism is normalised under butcher Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocide of Palestine. Even then, however what does it mean to be “rightwing Israelis?” Israel have been engaged in 75 years of ethnic cleansing, torture, detainment, and siege of Gaza.
Palestinians can’t leave because Israeli’s keep them fenced in. Israel blocks any delivery of food or aid, to the point of starving Palestinians. There have been decades of Israeli settlers bulldozing homes from Palestinians, stealing homes from Palestinians, razing land from Palestinians.
Then, after this decades-long onslaught, imagine Palestinians in Gaza, stuck in an open-air prison – or as some may credibly argue, a concentration camp – seeing Israelis at a concert? Dancing and enjoying themselves while their government attempts to ethnically cleanse Palestine with the consent not only of Israeli civilians, but the consent of the world?
Bill Clinton’s remarks perfectly demonstrate the heft of American exceptionalism. America positions itself as the arbiter of morality globally, and is quick to intervene in the Middle East especially. Clinton may well believe the bullshit he’s peddling about “pro-friendship’ Israelis, but that doesn’t change how bloodthirsty and brutal Israel continue to be. That is what Arab Americans are objecting to.
What would you do?
Bill Clinton continued:
And so then, the people who criticise it are saying ‘yeah but look how many people you killed – how many is enough for you kill to punish them for the terrible things they did.’ That all sounds nice until you realise what would you do if it were your family and you hadn’t done anything but support a homeland for the Palestinians, and one day they come for you, and slaughter the people of your village?
You would say ‘well, you’ll have to forgive me, but I’m not keeping score that way. It isn’t how many we’ve had to kill’ because Hamas makes sure that they’re shielded by civilians, they’ll force you to kill civilians, if you want to defend yourself.
Plenty of people have pointed out that Israel has far, far outstripped the death toll of the number of Palestinians it’s killed, than died on 7 October. But, that’s not enough for Clinton. Old Bill wants you to imagine that Israeli’s have done nothing but support the existence of Palestine. The reality is quite different.
Israeli settlers have taken boat tours to view a destroyed Gaza – ostensibly as more land for them to colonise.
They’ve gleefully referred to Gazan seafront properties as a “bargain.”
They’ve celebrated airstrikes that have killed Palestinian children.
They’ve engaged in violently rampaging against Palestinians themselves.
Two-thirds of Israelis support their military’s approach to Gaza.
The horror and destruction visited upon Palestine by the Israeli military is no secret from Israeli civilians. Not only do they actively consent to the terror being spread across Palestine, they celebrate it. And it’s certainly not a viewpoint only undertaken by right-wing extremists.
Bill Clinton: sit down
Bill Clinton painting a scenario where Hamas is secretly hiding amongst civilians, where Israelis want nothing but peace for Palestine, is an outrage. His remarks are dangerous nonsense entirely typical of a bloated and grotesque American state that enables Israel at any cost.
Clinton’s casual dismissal of the thousands of Palestinian deaths that Arab Americans object to sends quite the message to voters – Democrats are engaging in the same delusion that Republicans are, and they’ll prop up Israel’s atrocities no matter who objects.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Payday report
